AIR MILES miles (often simply called AIR MILES) are particularly easy to get in very large quantities right now with the record-high increased offer on the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard (ends June 1). These concrete examples of the best redemptions of AIR MILES miles will show you that you have many options.
All the details of the redemption options for all rewards currencies are already in the 10+ information tabs of our card resource pages, but by popular demand, we’re preparing plenty of other, better-organized content to make it easier to check out.
Here are 8 examples of the best redemptions of AIR MILES miles.
Basics of AIR MILES miles
First, here’s a reminder of the 5 credit cards that earn AIR MILES miles (Amex AIR MILES cards have been discontinued).
| Best credit cards for AIR MILES Rewards |
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 Valuation (BONUS)(≈ 5.0% back on $20k)
Rewards: ≈ $998
Card fee: $0 $120
Spend required:$20k in 12 mos. (or $4.5k/$10k)
Best for: 9,500 Miles with welcome bonus & AM elite status
 SIMPLE
80k/150k
ends June 1st
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Valuation (BONUS) (≈ 9.3% back on $1.5k)
Rewards: ≈ $139
Card fee: $0
Spend required:$1.5k in 110 days
Best for: 1320 Miles with welcome bonus & Dream/Cash conversions
SIMPLE
15k
ends June 1st
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Valuation (BONUS) (8.4% back on $5k)
Rewards: $420
Card fee: $0 $120
Spend required:$5k in 3 mos.
Best for: 3,500 Miles after welcome bonus
LUCRATIVE
80k/150k
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
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Best credit cards for AIR MILES Rewards |
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SIMPLE 80k/150k
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $998
Card fee: $0 $120 (≈ 5.0% back on $20k)
Spend required:
$20k in 12 mos. (or $4.5k/$10k)
Best for: 9,500 Miles with welcome bonus & AM elite status
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SIMPLE 15k
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $139
Card fee: $0 (≈ 9.3% back on $1.5k)
Spend required:
$1.5k in 110 days
Best for: 1320 Miles with welcome bonus & Dream/Cash conversions
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LUCRATIVE80k/150k
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: $420
Card fee: $0 $120 (8.4% back on $5k)
Spend required:
$5k in 3 mos.
Best for: 3,500 Miles after welcome bonus
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: $138
Card fee: $0 (4.6% back on $3k)
Spend required:
$3k in 3 mos.
Best for: 1,150 Miles after welcome bonus
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SIMPLENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $92
Card fee: $0 (≈ 9.2% back on $1k)
Spend required:
$1k in 3 mos.
Best for: 880 Miles after welcome bonus
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
AIR MILES miles are the currency of the AIR MILES program, which now belongs to BMO Bank.
These are rewards of the more simple type (so they’re necessarily less lucrative).
The number of AIR MILES miles required for travel is therefore generally pretty tied to the cash price. The value varies very little within each available redemption option (or not at all in the case of the most well-known AIR MILES redemption, for merchandise).
There are also very few restrictions or complexities. You can redeem them for almost any travel expense at a relatively fixed value that’s rather simple, although some specific flights don’t allow you to redeem many AIR MILES miles because the base fare is low! This still gives you tremendous flexibility for everything other than flights!
The peculiarity of AIR MILES is that there are Dream miles and Cash miles. Having the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard allows you to convert from one to the other.
In this post, we’re only looking at the best redemptions. You can read the introduction on how to redeem AIR MILES miles for all the options.
Examples of the best redemptions of AIR MILES miles
Since the value of AIR MILES miles is relatively fixed (within each available redemption option), these examples of best redemptions are not at all like those with rewards of the more lucrative type that have a value that varies enormously and can give you excellent deals.
But we still want to help you see exactly what you could do with the 9,500 AIR MILES miles you’ll get by unlocking the increased bonus on the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard.
Here are 8 concrete examples of what you can get with AIR MILES miles.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #1: Any trip or any merchandise during a redemption promotion (Dream miles or Cash miles)
- Value: ≈ 13.65¢/pt to ≈ 16.8¢/pt
This is not a specific redemption option per se, and it’s hard to plan as part of your strategy. But still, the very best value you can get with AIR MILES miles is when they offer their promotions that give you 30% to 40% back when redeeming miles.
These happen a couple of times per year, and Flytrippers shares them (sign up for our free newsletter specifically about travel rewards to never miss a deal). It gives you 30% or 40% more value so easily! You just need to redeem at the right time.
These promotions usually apply to redemptions for both travel or merchandise.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #2: Some flights booked on the AIR MILES website with the flight booking discount benefit (Dream miles)
- Value: ≈ 13.13¢/pt to ≈ 15¢/pt
This redemption option is only for those who have the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard. One of the card benefits is the AIR MILES flight booking discount: you’ll get 25% off a flight redemption, giving you 25% more value quite easily.
You can use this benefit once per calendar year (not per card membership year). This means you can use it twice in your first year with the card (as long as you don’t apply for the card in the first few days of January).
The discount is capped at 750 AIR MILES miles, meaning that you’ll only get the 25% discount on the first 3,000 miles redeemed on a single booking.
This is great… assuming you can find a good flight redemption (see #4).
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #3: Any hotel booked on the AIR MILES website (Dream miles)
- Value: ≈ 10.5¢/pt to ≈ 12¢/pt
The value of AIR MILES miles for travel is almost always in that range, for all types of travel. But booking hotels is the ideal travel redemption!
Why? It’s always better to book flights directly with an airline. And there are so many points currencies that are better for flights (that can give you a higher value).
With AIR MILES, the value varies less for hotels compared to flights.
The AIR MILES website has thousands of hotels all over the world, so it’s very flexible. Check if AIR MILES has the best price, though.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #4: Any flight booked on the AIR MILES website (Dream miles)
- Value: ≈ 10.5¢/pt to ≈ 12¢/pt
If you absolutely want to book a flight, it’s doable even if the basics of buying plane tickets are to avoid third parties (especially if you don’t have the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard‘s 25% off flight booking discount).
For a nonstop flight that’s not for a vital trip, it’ll probably not be the end of the world. But still, it’s so much better to just redeem the miles for the other travel expenses…
Miles can only be redeemed for the base fare. But this is worse than airline points: even carrier surcharges are excluded. So with many long-distance flights (including most flights between Canada and Europe), the base fare is very low, so you can’t redeem many miles.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #5: Any activity booked on the AIR MILES website (Dream miles)
- Value: ≈ 10.5¢/pt to ≈ 12¢/pt
It’s often more difficult to redeem rewards for travel activities, such as attraction tickets and excursions. AIR MILES miles allow this with very few options available, though.
Their website is terrible and doesn’t even show the equivalent price in cash, so even if you always need to compare elsewhere, here it’s just really not very practical.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #6: Any car rental booked on the AIR MILES website (Dream miles)
- Value: ≈ 10.5¢/pt to ≈ 12¢/pt
If you need a rental car, you can redeem your miles for that.
Again, their website is terrible and doesn’t even show the equivalent price in cash.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #7: Merchandise at many stores with eVouchers (Cash miles)
- Value: 10.5¢/pt
AIR MILES is a rare program where redeeming for merchandise makes sense: it’s a very similar value to travel redemptions (with most rewards programs, merchandise redemptions offer a terrible and much lower value than travel).
You get a simple guaranteed fixed value of 10.5¢/pt this way. Sometimes there are promotions that give slightly better value for specific stores, like right now with Tim Hortons (11.8¢/pt).
So many people don’t know about the new eVouchers redemption option. It gives you a lot more options to redeem your miles for merchandise.
You can redeem at many retailers: Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Winners, HomeSense, Starbucks, GAP, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Apple, etc.
You can redeem at many restaurants: Tim Hortons, Subway, Boston Pizza, Pizza Pizza, Harvey’s, Swiss Chalet, St-Hubert, Earls, Foodtastic brands, Ultimate Dining Card brands, etc.
Best redemption of AIR MILES miles #8: Merchandise at in-store partners (Cash miles)
- Value: 10.5¢/pt
The number of in-store partners where you can redeem AIR MILES miles has gone down. The value is the same as with eVouchers, so there’s no upside to choosing this option rather than the previous one.
Nationally, Shell gas stations and Pharmasave are the most significant partners, with only very few others left.
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Summary
It’s very simple to redeem AIR MILES miles, like those you can currently get in huge quantities with the record-high increased welcome bonus on the BMO AIR MILES World Elite MasterCard (ends June 1). They have a very simple relatively fixed value, with no restrictions or complexities.
What would you like to know about the best redemptions of AIR MILES miles? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Abqad, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran (photo credit: Mohammad Alizade)
